SITKA, ALASKA
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On October 1, the governor appointed Sitka volunteer firefighter Robert Dennard to the Alaska Fire Standards Council.
The Council establishes the certification standards for fire service personnel in the state.
Dennard is an employee in the Sitka Electric Department. He was the 2001 Alaska State Firefighter’s Association Firefighter of the Year. He’s also been the Sitka Elks Lodge Citizen of the Year.
On October 6, Governor Parnell reappointed Camille Ferguson to his Coordinated Transportation Task Force.
Ferguson is the economic development director for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. She was first appointed to the task force two years ago when it was formed by then-governor Sarah Palin.
Ferguson says the goal of the task force is to inventory available transportation funding in the state and identify barriers to successfully leveraging that funding for projects. Often that means trying to explain to Washington DC how things work in Alaska.
“They have no clue or understanding why some of the places that have airports serve such a small community, when airports may be the only way to get someone from this community to a hospital or any sort of facility that’s needed.”
Ferguson says the task force will travel around the state to look firsthand at the transportation challenges in various communities. Her particular expertise is in Tribal transportation, and in the federal Indian Reservation Roads program.
Ferguson says no two communities have exactly the same needs, and some – especially in the interior – have challenges that almost no place else does.
“You have tundra issues, permafrost issues that can create an issue with just building a road. In wintertime it’s important to have ice roads, or they’ll go up rivers. Everywhere is unique.”
Ferguson says the Governor’s Coordinated Transportation Task Force meets face-to-face about six times a year.
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